Kansas Jayhawks head coach Lance Leipold answers questions from the media after the Saturday's game against Texas Tech.
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00:00 >> All right, just first of all, what was the nature of Jason's injury and
00:04 how is he doing after the game?
00:06 >> He's had injury and he's feeling better.
00:10 He's sleeping now.
00:12 >> Why do you think you guys had trouble in some of the goal to goal situations
00:15 in this game?
00:16 >> I'm sorry?
00:17 >> Why do you think you guys had trouble in goal to goal situations?
00:20 >> I'm hungry.
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00:23 >> That's a physical down low defense.
00:25 I know it's closer to sometimes as you're watching football,
00:30 some days it's difficult to run through on the one.
00:35 It's an area that we need to do better and
00:39 they were better team today when it came to those situations.
00:42 Until I really look at each and every situation.
00:45 >> You guys just in all three phases, how do you think you guys played all three
00:49 phases?
00:49 >> Not good enough to win, obviously.
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00:57 We scored 13 points.
00:59 If you look at it from, if you don't beat those 16 points,
01:03 you think you win some games, okay?
01:05 So that's one area that we didn't do well.
01:10 I thought we battled hard the second half.
01:12 I think it's, we didn't give our, they came out the more aggressive team.
01:17 Both sides of the ball played downhill, were more physical than us.
01:21 We never gave our crowd a chance to really get into the game until the second half.
01:28 All that being said, I still think we battled and
01:30 we found a way to tie it up with under a minute to go.
01:34 But we don't, but I'm super excited to have them drive us down the field.
01:37 Special teams wise, I mean, we made our field goals.
01:44 I don't know if there's a ton there in special teams.
01:46 I, defensively, I thought, especially the first quarter, Texas Tech dominated us in
01:51 the run game, but then I think if you look at the second half, I don't know.
01:55 I'd like to see the first half, second half comparison.
01:58 Tomorrow, I'll probably give it a look at that.
02:00 But I thought our defense really responded well and challenged and
02:05 they found ways to get stops.
02:06 And offensively, I don't know if we ever fully got sent today.
02:12 >> You guys talked a lot about Cole.
02:14 What's the idea about what he did today?
02:18 >> Just about what I thought he'd do.
02:20 Compete his tail off and he wouldn't flinch and he'll give you everything he has.
02:25 He's, I don't think he ever had that year and
02:30 I might look about him where he was in the moment was too big.
02:37 That locker room really likes Cole Ballard and they have for a long time.
02:41 It's his makeup, it's in his DNA and he's gonna be a fine player here.
02:48 >> You talked about having the deer in the headlights.
02:50 How impressive is that for a guy playing his first college?
02:53 >> Yeah, you don't know.
02:54 We've been battling, we're hoping to redshirt him.
02:58 And now it's three games and last week was one snap.
03:02 We were sitting there trying to decide,
03:04 we're gonna put Ben Easters in or something for one play.
03:08 And Cole just stays ready, but he's been that way.
03:13 His football upbringing has prepared him to stay ready.
03:19 And that has been very, very helpful.
03:23 >> On the last play where Devin threw the ball,
03:26 can you walk us through what kind of call was on the sideline in that process?
03:29 >> Yeah, it was gonna be like we were trying to,
03:33 we're gonna get him all the way in and
03:36 we're gonna try to throw this again.
03:39 Much like many situations with us even a week ago,
03:42 we wanted to be aggressive and go win the game.
03:46 That was the whole mindset.
03:47 We're gonna find a way.
03:50 Obviously, when they don't work,
03:52 we can always talk about ten other options we could have had.
03:57 Other things, you could have run the ball, run the clock down,
04:00 we could have them all.
04:01 But our thing was we're gonna go get a touchdown.
04:04 And it didn't work.
04:07 From my angle, it's hard to say what was there or not.
04:10 So I'm not gonna give any other thought on that right now.
04:17 My attention went to the field goal and
04:19 then onward to the kickoff and us trying to get a stop.
04:22 >> Do you have a question or anything?
04:26 [BLANK_AUDIO]
04:31 >> I guess that on the last drive, what went wrong that allowed
04:34 Tex Tech to move the ball?
04:36 >> They make a real good catch on the boundary.
04:38 I don't know.
04:39 I didn't see enough of a replay if you push for separation.
04:42 We're close on one, the guy just didn't get quite turned around enough,
04:48 I think, on one of the intermediate throws.
04:50 Yeah, it's that old.
04:55 It wasn't like, hey, let's play really soft and
04:57 let's let him get down there, was it?
05:00 But obviously, it wasn't enough.
05:04 >> You talked about the defense in the first half, or first quarter at least,
05:07 the down, just the response there.
05:10 How impressed were you that they responded and got that performance?
05:14 >> Yeah, obviously, probably for all of us,
05:19 it wasn't pretty frustrating and disappointing and all the other things.
05:24 But then all of a sudden you look up and it's only a ten point deficit.
05:28 So you're hanging in there.
05:29 There's some things happening that gives you a chance.
05:32 So on the way, I think it was the interception,
05:37 the missed field goal possibly, or stop.
05:41 So even those things, we just kept finding ways to hang in there and
05:47 find some solutions and get accustomed to what they were gonna try to do with some
05:51 things, and I thought we played, again, I said second half static.
05:56 Maybe we should look at the last three quarters versus the first quarter.
06:00 And so, as I told the team, we wouldn't lose together.
06:07 And there's a lot of things there that it wasn't one last drive.
06:11 It was red zone touchdown opportunities.
06:14 It was missed stops early in the game.
06:16 It was missed stops late in the game and everything else in between.
06:21 >> Losses obviously happened, but you guys seem to have elevated yourselves to a point
06:25 where you expect not to be, and what's the mood in there?
06:29 >> Yeah, disappointment, but I think, Matt, at the same time,
06:32 maybe it's a good reminder that we're not completely there, okay?
06:40 And you gotta be there all the time, I mean, from opening kick.
06:44 And I don't think we had a bad week of
06:49 preparation or guys were like, yeah, whatever.
06:54 I can't, in the world of world, review that again tomorrow on what we thought.
06:59 But just some things execution wise and some other things.
07:04 And we said it earlier in the week now, that they're getting a little healthier
07:09 over there, they're getting some people back, and they're getting a little more
07:14 rhythm, and that's not an increase there.
07:16 That was a team that we spoke highly of, and they lost some close ones early.
07:21 So don't be fooled by the record either.
07:25 >> And with Cole, what's available?
07:28 How much do you have to pare down the playbook?
07:31 >> I've never heard Andy or Jim say, hey, we gotta pare this down.
07:36 But obviously, by repetitions, there's some certain things that we're not gonna
07:41 probably run is based on what he's really got a chance to do.
07:45 But like I said, he's impressed everyone with retention of information.
07:54 Timing, studying when he's in meetings with Jim or
07:59 with Andy on game plan, our walkthroughs, all of that.
08:05 So that part wasn't, I don't know if it was completely like,
08:11 hey, we can't do this.
08:15 >> Is it pretty apparent that he's the son of a NFL GM and has the-
08:19 >> No doubt.
08:20 >> Yeah.
08:21 >> No doubt, no.
08:22 His father, Chris, he told us that, we talked about a couple of different times
08:28 that Andy told Chris, get him around the game, get him around the locker room,
08:35 get him around the opportunities.
08:37 In this profession, we miss a lot of our own kids' activities, and
08:43 there's pluses and minuses that our children get.
08:46 And then there are some pluses of experiences.
08:49 And sometimes in these cases, Cole's had the opportunity to be around it.
08:53 That's why I said, that's why the moment wasn't too big.
08:55 Okay, and he's had the opportunity to be around a lot of quality people.
09:01 And yeah, he's just feet on the ground.
09:04 He's a yes or no sort of guy.
09:07 And yeah, and as his father told me, you won't have to worry about him.
09:15 And he'll be ready to go for you.
09:18 And I've known his father for over 30 years.
09:21 And there was a reason that when things kinda changed for us a year ago,
09:28 I wanted to make sure we got Cole in our program.
09:30 >> Yes, well, from your message, we forget about this when it's our Olympic
09:35 day, or what the state is.
09:36 >> Yeah, well, we're gonna practice tomorrow.
09:39 We've made a change, and it wasn't by outcome.
09:43 For some multiple reasons.
09:47 So, and when we were loose, it was gonna be good,
09:52 because we're gonna turn the page pretty quickly as we get ready for
09:56 the defending conference champs.
09:57 So we're gonna make sure that we do that, and
10:01 we're gonna see how this team responds.
10:03 >> From year one to now, how much progress and
10:08 growth have you seen from your team in this program in the will to compete,
10:13 despite the score or circumstance of the game?
10:16 >> Yeah, that's a good question.
10:19 I think, start of the way the first half went, I think, especially first year,
10:24 it would have probably doubled or tripled by the end of the game, the deficit.
10:29 I don't think we had that in us.
10:32 So when things weren't going well,
10:34 I think we have continued to show that we'll play,
10:39 60 minutes, keep battling.
10:43 And we're thinking we're gonna get that thing in overtime and see where it goes.
10:50 But that part is encouraging because they know anything can
10:55 happen if we just keep pounding away on things.
11:00 And so we've come a long way, but it's also, sometimes when success happens,
11:08 we tend to really, and I think it's understandable.
11:14 But this place has been starving for it for so long,
11:18 I don't know if we're quite getting all the steps in line yet.
11:23 We wanna go all the way over here and
11:25 start talking about things that aren't even possible yet.
11:28 And a lot of things that we've gotta make sure that we're A, B, C,
11:32 D all the way through.
11:33 We wanna go A to D right away sometimes here.
11:36 We've gotta make sure we get there and that's my responsibility and today I failed.
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